The Bedwetter Caucus

GOP 'pros' trash the Republican ticket.

Updated Aug. 16, 2012 12:01 a.m. ET

That didn't take long. Much as we predicted last week, the Republican Party's Bedwetter Caucus has emerged on schedule to explain why Mitt Romney can't possibly win the election with Paul Ryan on the ticket.

"GOP pros fret over Paul Ryan," reported Politico, the website with perfect Beltway pitch, on Tuesday: "In more than three dozen interviews with Republican strategists and campaign operatives—old hands and rising next-generation conservatives alike—the most common reactions to Ryan ranged from gnawing apprehension to hair-on-fire anger that Romney has practically ceded the election."

Mr. Romney's catastrophic blunder, it seems, is that he chose a running mate who does more than talk about reforming government. He's really tried to do it, and this is simply not done in Presidential politics.

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"I think it's a very bold choice. And an exciting and interesting pick. It's going to elevate the campaign into a debate over big ideas. It means Romney-Ryan can run on principles and provide some real direction and vision for the Republican Party. And probably lose. Maybe big," said one of the "pros," Mark McKinnon.

Since advising George W. Bush, Mr. McKinnon has moved on to co-found "No Labels," an outfit that claims to promote the Golden Mean in politics. A better name for the group is No Principles, so it's understandable he'd be uncomfortable with a conviction politician like Mr. Ryan. But give Mr. McKinnon credit for at least going on the record, unlike the other worry-warts.

Republicans who believe in something can console themselves in knowing that these "pros" are reflecting the Washington conventional wisdom. Nearly everyone in the Beltway thinks it's impossible to reform entitlements like Medicare, and or even to restrain the size of government, so why would a candidate be foolish enough to try?

This crowd is good at forecasting the political future as a repetition of the past and present, but as Irving Kristol used to say, they aren't very good at predicting the turns. We'll see if this year is one of those turns.

Meantime, the "pros" willing to shoot their candidate in the back are one more reason that voters have contempt for the political class, and why most Republicans who don't live in Washington are delighted with the choice of Mr. Ryan.

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